Wetzlar
Encyclopedia
Wetzlar is a city in the state of Hesse
, Germany
. Located at 8° 30′ E, 50° 34′ N, Wetzlar straddles the river Lahn
and is on the German Timber-Framework Road which passes mile upon mile of half-timbered houses. Historically, the city has acted as the hub of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis
on the north edge of the Taunus
. The city is known for its ancient town and its medieval cathedral
.
Notable architectural features include the Eisenmarkt and the steep gradients and tightly packed street layout of a medieval town. The sandstone cathedral of St. Mary
was commenced in the 12th century as a Romanesque
building. In the later Middle Ages
the construction was continued under a master plan in Gothic style
. The church was never finished, as one steeple still remains uncompleted. The cathedral suffered heavy damage in the Second World War from aerial bombing
, but was restored in the 1950s. On the outskirts of town the ruins of several stone towers are to be found, situated along the river.
Wetzlar lies in the Lahn-Dill area in Middle Hesse
on the river Lahn
, not far downstream from where it changes direction from south to west in the heights near the mouth of the Dill
. The town lies at a point where division the Hessian low mountain ranges divide: south of the Lahn lies the Taunus
; north of the Lahn and west of the Dill the Westerwald
begins; north of the Lahn and east of the Dill the Rothaargebirge
begin. The highest point within town limits is the Stoppelberg at 401 m above sea level
.
Wetzlar's neighbouring towns and cities are Gießen
(up the Lahn from centre to centre about 12 km), Koblenz
80 km down the Lahn, Limburg an der Lahn
40 km to the west, Siegen
50 km to the northwest, Dillenburg
30 km to the north, Marburg
30 km to the northeast and Frankfurt am Main 60 km to the south.
Wetzlar and Gießen are the two cores of this small (about 200,000 inhabitants) urban agglomeration in Middle Hesse. Along the valleys of the Lahn (east and west) and Dill (north) are heavily built-up neighbouring communities, whose built-up areas in some places merge with Wetzlar's. The low mountain ranges around Wetzlar to the northwest, northeast and south, on the other hand, are heavily wooded and very thinly populated.
(Lahn-Dill-Kreis), to the north and northeast on the communities of Hohenahr
(Lahn-Dill-Kreis) and Biebertal
(Gießen
district), to the east on the communities of Lahnau
(Lahn-Dill-Kreis) and Heuchelheim and the town of Gießen (both in Gießen district), to the south on the communities of Hüttenberg
and Schöffengrund
and to the west on the town of Solms
(all in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis).
e): Altstadt, Neustadt, Hauser Berg, Büblingshausen, Sturzkopf, Stoppelberger Hohl, Nauborner Straße, Silhöfer Aue/Westend, Altenberger Strasse, Dalheim, Dillfeld and Niedergirmes. Niedergirmes is with over 6,000 inhabitants the largest municipality.
Furthermore, there are 8 districts (Stadtteile) outside the core area. Five of them have long since been swallowed up in Wetzlar's main built-up area. All, however, became part of Wetzlar with the dissolution of the city of Lahn in 1979, excluding Blasbach, Dutenhofen and Münchholzhausen which have long belonged to the city. These are east of the core towns of Naunheim (3882), Garbenheim (2080), Münchholzhausen (2420) and Dutenhofen
(3152). Nauborn (3721) is located south of the core area and Steindorf (1704) follows on from the west central area. North of the core area are Blasbach (994) and Hermannstein (3588) (population in brackets, as of December 31, 2007).
Wetzlar lies on the eastern edge of the Rhenish Massif. The substrate consists of geologically young sediments
of the Lahn and much older Devonian
and Carboniferous
rocks of the two main geological units of the Massif, the Lahnmulde and the so-called Giessen nappe
. The northwestern part of the urban area lies on the Lahntal silt
, sand
and gravel
, which have only slightly hardened. They were deposited by the river Lahn, at a point where its valley (which is still up to one kilometre wide) to the west becomes increasingly narrow and deep. The main part of the city is built on in part intensively folded
, faulted and slated
layers of shales, sandstone, quartzite and limestone. They were deposited in the Devonian and Carboniferous eras in a sea characterised by island chains, volcanoes and atolls that were pushed together and covered by a layer of rock that had been transported from another location during the Variscan orogeny
period of mountain building. The marine sedimentary rocks which resulted from this tectonic action now give the town its character as they were often used for building material.
settlements right on the western town limits, partly from 5,000 years BC.
In the proximity of Wetzlar there are also a few Roman
remains, which were constructed during the reign of the emperor Augustus
. There was a military camp at Dorlar and some Roman roadwork. The most important finding however is an uncompleted city (Waldgirmes Forum
), which has been excavated since 1993. After their defeat in the battle of the Teutoburg Forest
the Romans abandoned the area and withdrew to the Rhine border.
The name "Wetzlar" had come into being most likely by the 3rd century to the 8th century. The last syllable "―lar" suggests that the town was in existence by the 3rd century. The ending may be Celtic
or Frankish
(in the latter case, most likely referring to wooden defences around the town). The Conradine Gebhard
, Count in the Wetterau
, and as of 904 Duke of Lorraine, had a Church of the Saviour consecrated in 897, which replaced earlier structures. In the early 10th century came the founding of the Marienstift (monastery
).
The Hohenstaufen
Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa
created a Reichsvogtei (roughly "Imperial Bailiwick"), and in 1180 put Wetzlar's citizens on the same level as Frankfurt
's. Wetzlar became a Free Imperial City and kept this distinction until 1803. For the town's protection, and to secure the Wetterau as an Imperial Province, he expanded high above Wetzlar the Imperial Castle (Reichsburg), which had most likely already stood in one form or another before then. The origin of the name "Reichsburg Kalsmunt" is not quite clear. The following explanation cannot be ruled out: Kals- = Karls and munt ≈ vassal, that is, a liege of the Frankish court. Thus it would seem to be a case of a building work from Charlemagne
's time ("Charlemagne" is "Karl der Große" – "Charles the Great" (740s–814) – in German
). Imperial coinage was struck at Kalsmunt. The commercial road, which crossed the Lahn at Wetzlar, the town's iron
production, to which the Iron Market (forum ferri) still bears witness, the wool
weaving mill and tanning
seemed a good basis on which to develop the town further.
In 1285 the "false emperor" Dietrich Holzschuh, called Tile Kolup
, who claimed to be Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
(who actually had already died, in Italy in 1250) came to Wetzlar. When the rightful king, Rudolph I
heard of this and came to Wetzlar, the city leaders seized Tile Kolup and handed him over. He was sentenced as a warlock
, a heretic
and a blasphemer
to a fiery death
, which he suffered the next day in Wetzlar at the stake.
Until 1250, most of the town fortifications, whose remains can still be seen today, were complete. By the middle of the 14th century, it is reckoned, the town's population was 6,000, making it by the standards of the time a "city". About 1350, the high point of the town's development in the Middle Ages
was reached.
Decades-long feuds with the Counts of Solms, who were trying to make Wetzlar into a Solms-domain city, threatened the vital commercial road. The Emperor supported the town, albeit vainly. The city plunged into debt and in 1387 it fell under forced administration; however, it was incorporated into the Swabian League of Towns. The town's decline led by the end of the Thirty Years' War
to a drop in population, to 1,500.
A stroke of luck came Wetzlar's way in 1689 when the Holy Roman Empire
's highest court, the Reichskammergericht
(Imperial Chamber Court) was moved from Speyer
to Wetzlar after Speyer
had been devastated by the French in the war of the Palatinate succession. Besides Vienna
(residence of the Emperor) and Regensburg
(seat of the Imperial Diet) Wetzlar thus gained a central function within the Holy Roman Empire
and although it remained a tiny town it was regarded as one of its capitals. In the summer of 1772, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
was at the Reichskammergericht as a trainee. His novel The Sorrows of Young Werther
is inspired by real events which Goethe experienced in Wetzlar. In 1803 Wetzlar came under the rule of Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg
, the Archchancellor of the Holy Roman Empire and a close ally of Napoleon Bonaparte and thus lost its status as a free town. With the Empire's dissolution in 1806, the great court also met its end. It was replaced by a school of law founded by Karl von Dalberg. After the Congress of Vienna
, the area passed to Prussia
in 1815, and in 1822 it became the seat of the newly formed district of Wetzlar, which later became an exclave of the Rhine Province
.
and the Cologne
-Gießen Railway), which met in Wetzlar, the town found itself connected to raw material and outlet markets, becoming an industrial town.
In 1869, in the municipal area alone, 100 ore
mines were in operation. Wetzlar's first blast furnace
, built by the brothers Buderus, went into service in 1872. As well, world-famous optical and precision mechanics companies such as Leitz (Leica), Hensoldt (Zeiss), Pfeiffer, Philips
, Loh, Seibert, Hollmann, Minox and many others set up shop in the town.
For more than one hundred years, the iron ore found in the Lahn-Dill area (haematite) was processed at the Sophienhütte ironworks
. As of 1887, iron ore mines were being shut down one by one, interrupted only by the First World War, because foreign ore from strip mines was being offered at lower prices on the world market. In 1926, mining came to an end altogether.
.
After the Second World War ended in 1945, Wetzlar found itself in the American
occupation zone, and later, once new boundaries had been drawn, in the Federal State
of Hesse
. By the beginning of the 1950s, owing to the huge numbers of displaced people from lost territories and refugees flooding into the town, the population had doubled to 30,000.
On 1 January 1977, as part of Hesse's municipal reforms, Wetzlar was united with the neighbouring town of Gießen
and fourteen outlying communities to form the city of Lahn
. This district-free city had about 156,000 inhabitants. The amalgamation was very unpopular, and after persistent protests – not least of all from Wetzlar – the city of Lahn was dissolved on 31 July 1979, and Wetzlar once again became an independent town. The municipal reforms, however, had been "worth the trouble" for Wetzlar inasmuch as the town gained eight new outlying communities in the deal, making both the town's area and population considerably greater than they had been. Moreover, Wetzlar has since this time been the seat of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis, which also came into being at the same time.
Note: FWG is a citizens' coalition.
The majority of seats, and thereby the power, is held by a CDU-FWG-FDP coalition which holds, as also before the elections, 31 of the 59 seats.
might heraldically be described thus: In gules a spreadeagle sable armed, langued and crowned Or, over its wing dexter a cross pattée argent.
The black Imperial eagle on a red background and with a golden crown stands for the town's former Imperial immediacy as a Free Imperial City (see History). The silver cross stands for the former Imperial City's right to mint coins. The arms are almost unchanged from those borne in the 12th century.
A new version of the coat of arms was to have been introduced in 2003, but it did not catch on. In the end, the "old" arms were kept.
(Sauerland
-line Dortmund
– Aschaffenburg
) with the junctions Wetzlarer Kreuz
[Wetzlar Cross] (to A480 to Wetzlar-North, Asslar and Wetzlar-Blasbach), Wetzlar-Ost [Wetzlar-East] (to B49 in direction city centre) and Wetzlar-Süd [Wetzlar-South] (into the southern quarters Münchholzhausen and Dutenhofen). The motorway A480 should actually lead from the Luxembourg
border over Trier
through the Westerwald
up to the Hattenbacher Dreieck ([Hattenbach Triangle] to the A7). This distance was planned as A48. Because of high costs it was never completely realized. Now the B49 are to take up the traffic. Today the part of the A48 between Gießen and Wetzlar is called A480 and leads only from the departure Wetzlar-North/Asslar up to the Wetzlarer Cross and beyond that up to the present motorway end with the improvised exit after Wetzlar-Blasbach. Some kilometres to the northeast of Gießen the part removed so far continues and leads from Heuchelheim
to the Reiskirchener Dreieck [Reiskirchen Triangle] at the A5
.
Federal highway : The following federal highways lead through the city: B49 (Trier
– Wetzlar – Alsfeld
) in direction east–west and B277 (Siegen-Dillenburg-Wetzlar) as north-south connection. The B277a is rather a bypass road
, it connects Asslar with Wetzlar-Dalheim. Between Wetzlar and Limburg (B49) the federal route is currently being expanded from one lane to two in each direction.
Railways : Wetzlar lies on the railroad lines Frankfurt am Main – Siegen
– Cologne
and Gießen
– Limburg
– Koblenz
, which meet at Wetzlar Station and are operated by RegionalBahn
and RegionalExpress
-trains. Since 2009 every morning and evening an EuroCity
stops on its way to Klagenfurt
or rather to Siegen. Beside the station Wetzlar, a further station exists in Dutenhofen. The earlier station in Wetzlar-Garbenheim was closed when this route to Wetzlar was shut down. The freight station has become smaller; since February 2007, Railion
operates freight trains for central Hesse. Larger cities, which are directly reachable from Wetzlar are: Aachen
, Cologne, Koblenz, Frankfurt am Main, Munich
, Salzburg
, Siegen and Stuttgart
.
Public transport : The city has a well organised urban bus network with twelve lines, all connecting to the central bus station (ZOB
), in addition various lines handle the overland traffic into the surrounding countryside of Wetzlar. In the late evening hours the night bus line 007, the so-called DiscoBus, serves nearly all parts of the city. On all lines, the RMV
pricing applies. Additionally the CityBus links the Old Town for 50c, weekdays from 10:00 to 19:00 and on workdays to 15:00 with the station and the shopping centre FORUM Wetzlar every 20 minutes.
Airtraffic : The distance to Frankfurt Airport
is about 70 km, to the regional airport Siegen approx. 40 km.
is Wetzlar one of the most attractive commercial locations in Germany. The city has a high centrality coefficient and a retail turnover of around EUR 10,000 per inhabitant. In Germany it takes third place among all cities with over 50,000 inhabitants.
Wetzlar has two large shopping centres, of those the FORUM Wetzlar is the largest in central Hesse (Mittelhessen). It has around 110 shops and accommodates a large multi-storey car park of 1700 places. Retail trade is located mainly in the areas Bahnhofsstraße, Karl-Kellner-Ring and the historic old town. In the Bahnhofstraße, the Karl-Kellner-Ring and in the two shopping centres where almost all goods are available.
group, Buderus was for many decades one of the largest employers in the central Hessian area with more than 10,000 persons employed in Wetzlar alone (worldwide over 16,000), working in the areas casting (with cement), high-grade steel and heating technologies. Economic changes, repeated shifts of the stock majority as well as close-downs and sales of various divisions have strongly changed the company in the meantime. However, it ranks among the largest enterprises in Hesse. Wetzlar is apart from Jena
and Oberkochen
a German centre for optics as well as the most important German location for the precision engineering industry. The manufactured products have gained worldwide reputation. One of the most important companies in the area of microscopy is Leica Microsystems
(formerly known as Ernst Leitz), which in its peak times employed over 7000 people in the city. Small format (35 mm) photography was invented in Wetzlar, and Leica cameras are well known for their excellent quality. In addition there are cameras of the companies Leidolf
and Minox
, binoculars and telescopes made by the company Hensoldt AG (now Carl Zeiss
), part of the Zeiss group (over 2,000 people employed in peak times). Other well-known firms are Philips
(with about 1,200 employed at times) or Siemens AG
and Siemens VDO
or the Sancura BKK, a supraregional health insurance company, which is fusioned with the Taunus BKK. The Business park
Spilburg, former barracks, became home to a number of innovative enterprises, particularly in the area of optics/precision mechanics, information technology and services. Additionally, areas in the Westend as well as the Hörnsheimer Eck and the Dillfeld are available for new businesses to set up.
is one of the largest universities of applied sciences in Germany. The campus in Wetzlar is located in a redeveloped former military barracks area.
with: Siena
, Italy
Colchester
, United Kingdom
Avignon
, France
Berlin-Neukölln
, Germany
Písek
, Czech Republic
Ilmenau
, Germany
Schladming
, Austria
Sponsorships to
Dori, Burkina Faso
8th District of Moscow
, Russia
Partnerships with
Windhoek
, Namibia
Point Pedro
, City in Sri Lanka
Aparecida
in São Paulo
, Brazil
The tightly woven ensemble of historic buildings and houses in the Old Town (Altstadt) with its half-timbered
houses and stone buildings from Romanesque (Wetzlar Cathedral) to Gothic
to Renaissance
and Baroque
is to a great extent as it was in the late 18th century, preserved and extensively restored. Thus the great squares of Buttermarkt/Domplatz ("Butter Market/Cathedral Square"), Fischmarkt ("Fish Market"), Eisenmarkt ("Iron Market"), Kornmarkt ("Grain Market"), and the former Franziskanerhof ("Franciscan Yard"), now called Schillerplatz. From the roughly 50 noteworthy buildings, a few are listed here:
Also in the old outlying towns of Langgasse and Neustadt ("New Town"), connected to the Old Town by the Old Lahn Bridge (Alte Lahnbrücke), a number of historic buildings are preserved and are worth seeing. The New Town, however, has lost its mediaeval feel owing to its 20th-century four-lane roads.
The stone Alte Lahnbrücke was first mentioned in 1288. A building meant to serve as the town hall, built in the mid 14th century, was used by the Reichskammergericht as their seat and offices from 1689 to 1806, after many remodellings. Considerable remains of the town's 13th- and 14th-century fortifications are still preserved, for instance a fortress tower known as the Schneiderturm ("Tailor's Tower") or Säuturm ("Sow's Tower"), the Kalsmuntpforte ("Kalsmunt Gate" – see History) which was the town gate for the earlier suburb of Silhofen, as well as large sections of the town wall.
(Fantastic Library of Wetzlar) is one of the largest public libraries specialising in fantastic literature worldwide, it is the largest in Europe. It is generally a reference library, open for the public and scientists.
Arena Wetzlar
is a multi-functional arena and is primarily used for pop concerts, shows and team handball and is the home arena of HSG Wetzlar
(Handball Bundesliga).
Every summer, opera
s, music
and drama
are performed in the open air at the Freilichtbühne during the month-long Wetzlar Festival ("Wetzlarer Festspiele
").
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Located at 8° 30′ E, 50° 34′ N, Wetzlar straddles the river Lahn
Lahn
The Lahn River is a -long, right tributary of the Rhine River in Germany. Its course passes through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia , Hesse , and Rhineland-Palatinate ....
and is on the German Timber-Framework Road which passes mile upon mile of half-timbered houses. Historically, the city has acted as the hub of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis
Lahn-Dill-Kreis
Lahn-Dill is a Kreis in the west of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Siegen-Wittgenstein, Marburg-Biedenkopf, Gießen, Wetteraukreis, Hochtaunuskreis, Limburg-Weilburg, Westerwaldkreis.-History:...
on the north edge of the Taunus
Taunus
The Taunus is a low mountain range in Hesse, Germany that composes part of the Rhenish Slate Mountains. It is bounded by the river valleys of Rhine, Main and Lahn. On the opposite side of the Rhine, the mountains are continued by the Hunsrück...
. The city is known for its ancient town and its medieval cathedral
Wetzlar Cathedral
Wetzlar Cathedral is a large church in the town of Wetzlar, located on the Lahn river some 50 km north of Frankfurt . Construction began in 1230 and is still unfinished, since the western front is still missing its northern belfry...
.
Notable architectural features include the Eisenmarkt and the steep gradients and tightly packed street layout of a medieval town. The sandstone cathedral of St. Mary
Wetzlar Cathedral
Wetzlar Cathedral is a large church in the town of Wetzlar, located on the Lahn river some 50 km north of Frankfurt . Construction began in 1230 and is still unfinished, since the western front is still missing its northern belfry...
was commenced in the 12th century as a Romanesque
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
building. In the later Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
the construction was continued under a master plan in Gothic style
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
. The church was never finished, as one steeple still remains uncompleted. The cathedral suffered heavy damage in the Second World War from aerial bombing
Strategic bombing
Strategic bombing is a military strategy used in a total war with the goal of defeating an enemy nation-state by destroying its economic ability and public will to wage war rather than destroying its land or naval forces...
, but was restored in the 1950s. On the outskirts of town the ruins of several stone towers are to be found, situated along the river.
Geography
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
on the river Lahn
Lahn
The Lahn River is a -long, right tributary of the Rhine River in Germany. Its course passes through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia , Hesse , and Rhineland-Palatinate ....
, not far downstream from where it changes direction from south to west in the heights near the mouth of the Dill
Dill (river)
The Dill is a long river, flowing through central Hesse in Germany. It is a tributary to the Lahn, joining it on the right bank at the town of Wetzlar.-Course:The Dill flows exclusively through the Lahn-Dill-Kreis district in Hesse...
. The town lies at a point where division the Hessian low mountain ranges divide: south of the Lahn lies the Taunus
Taunus
The Taunus is a low mountain range in Hesse, Germany that composes part of the Rhenish Slate Mountains. It is bounded by the river valleys of Rhine, Main and Lahn. On the opposite side of the Rhine, the mountains are continued by the Hunsrück...
; north of the Lahn and west of the Dill the Westerwald
Westerwald
The Westerwald is a low mountain range on the right bank of the River Rhine in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhine Massif...
begins; north of the Lahn and east of the Dill the Rothaargebirge
Rothaargebirge
The Rothaargebirge is a low mountain range reaching heights of up to 843.1 m in North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse, Germany....
begin. The highest point within town limits is the Stoppelberg at 401 m above sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
.
Wetzlar's neighbouring towns and cities are Gießen
Gießen
Gießen, also spelt Giessen is a town in the German federal state of Hesse, capital of both the district of Gießen and the administrative region of Gießen...
(up the Lahn from centre to centre about 12 km), Koblenz
Koblenz
Koblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...
80 km down the Lahn, Limburg an der Lahn
Limburg an der Lahn
Limburg an der Lahn is the district seat of Limburg-Weilburg in Hesse, Germany.-Location:Limburg lies in western Hesse between the Taunus and the Westerwald on the river Lahn....
40 km to the west, Siegen
Siegen
Siegen is a city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia.It is located in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in the Arnsberg region...
50 km to the northwest, Dillenburg
Dillenburg
Dillenburg is a town in Hesse's Gießen region in Germany. The town was formerly the seat of the old Dillkreis district, which is now part of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis....
30 km to the north, Marburg
Marburg
Marburg is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany, on the River Lahn. It is the main town of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district and its population, as of March 2010, was 79,911.- Founding and early history :...
30 km to the northeast and Frankfurt am Main 60 km to the south.
Wetzlar and Gießen are the two cores of this small (about 200,000 inhabitants) urban agglomeration in Middle Hesse. Along the valleys of the Lahn (east and west) and Dill (north) are heavily built-up neighbouring communities, whose built-up areas in some places merge with Wetzlar's. The low mountain ranges around Wetzlar to the northwest, northeast and south, on the other hand, are heavily wooded and very thinly populated.
Neighbouring communities
Wetzlar borders in the northwest on the town of AßlarAßlar
Aßlar is a town near Wetzlar in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany.- Location :Aßlar lies on a foothill of the Westerwald range as well as on the river Dill, which empties into the Lahn in neighbouring Wetzlar, about 5 km to the southeast...
(Lahn-Dill-Kreis), to the north and northeast on the communities of Hohenahr
Hohenahr
-Location:Hohenahr lies in the Lahn-Dill Highland at a height of between 260 and 440 m above sea level. Its constituent communities of Ahrdt and Mudersbach are on the shores of the Aartalsee .-Neighbouring communities:...
(Lahn-Dill-Kreis) and Biebertal
Biebertal
Biebertal is a municipality in the district of Gießen, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated 7 km northwest of Gießen.It is Denbigh's twin town...
(Gießen
Gießen (district)
Gießen is a Kreis in the middle of Hessen, Germany. Neighboring districts are Marburg-Biedenkopf, Vogelsbergkreis, Wetteraukreis, Lahn-Dill.-History:...
district), to the east on the communities of Lahnau
Lahnau
Lahnau is a community in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany, and lies about midway – about 6 km each way – between the towns of Wetzlar and Gießen.-Neighbouring communities:...
(Lahn-Dill-Kreis) and Heuchelheim and the town of Gießen (both in Gießen district), to the south on the communities of Hüttenberg
Hüttenberg
Hüttenberg is a community in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany.-Location:Hüttenberg near Wetzlar lies about 6 km southeast of Wetzlar and 10 km southwest of Gießen south of the river Lahn.-Neighbouring communities:...
and Schöffengrund
Schöffengrund
-Location:Schöffengrund lies only a few kilometres south of Wetzlar in the Hochtaunus Nature Park.-Neighbouring communities:Schöffengrund borders in the north on the towns of Solms and Wetzlar, in the east on the community of Hüttenberg , in the southeast on the community of Langgöns , in the south...
and to the west on the town of Solms
Solms
Solms is a town west of Wetzlar in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis, Hesse, Germany.In the constituent community of Burgsolms once stood the ancestral castle of the Counts and Princes of Solms, whose main lines were Solms-Braunfels, with their seat in Braunfels, and Solms-Hohensolms-Lich, with their seat in...
(all in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis).
Constituent communities
The core area of Wetzlar with 30,684 inhabitants is divided into twelve boroughs (StadtbezirkStadtbezirk
A Stadtbezirk is a form of German city district, an administrative unit within a larger city. In Germany Stadtbezirke usually only exist in a metropolis with more than 150,000 inhabitants....
e): Altstadt, Neustadt, Hauser Berg, Büblingshausen, Sturzkopf, Stoppelberger Hohl, Nauborner Straße, Silhöfer Aue/Westend, Altenberger Strasse, Dalheim, Dillfeld and Niedergirmes. Niedergirmes is with over 6,000 inhabitants the largest municipality.
Furthermore, there are 8 districts (Stadtteile) outside the core area. Five of them have long since been swallowed up in Wetzlar's main built-up area. All, however, became part of Wetzlar with the dissolution of the city of Lahn in 1979, excluding Blasbach, Dutenhofen and Münchholzhausen which have long belonged to the city. These are east of the core towns of Naunheim (3882), Garbenheim (2080), Münchholzhausen (2420) and Dutenhofen
Dutenhofen
Dutenhofen is the eastmost borough of the city of Wetzlar, Germany. It has approximately 3,100 residents .-Geography:The district lies in the Lahntal region just south of the Lahn. Nearby is the Dutenhofener See, a lake featuring a man-made beach, volleyball pit, trampolines, cafe, and bar...
(3152). Nauborn (3721) is located south of the core area and Steindorf (1704) follows on from the west central area. North of the core area are Blasbach (994) and Hermannstein (3588) (population in brackets, as of December 31, 2007).
Climate
Wetzlar has a year-round temperate seasonal climate of the middle latitudes. Between the different elevations there are different small climatic conditions. The daily mean temperature in summer is about 17 to 18 °C (62.6 to 64.4 ) in winter and about 1 to 2 °C (33.8 to 35.6 ). The average rainfall is 600 to 700 mm (23.6 to 27.6 ), slightly below the German national average. On the high ground to the south and north of the Lahn valley there is a rainfall of 800 mm (31 in) which is exactly the national average. The wettest months are June and December, with 74 and 73.3 mm, the driest month is February with 49.1 millimetres.Demography
Wetzlar had on the 31st December 2005 a municipal census for the city of 52,741 inhabitants (of which 21,946 are male and 24,313 female), 31,022 of which came from the core city (Kernstadt) and 21,719 in the 8 districts. Thus Wetzlar it the eleventh largest city in Hesse. The proportion of foreigners is 11.6% (6371 inhabitants), these are spread over 103 nations. The unemployment rate in the district of the employment agency without the offices of Dillenburg and Wetzlar Biedenkopf (which includes the city of Wetzlar, and 12 surrounding municipalities) was in July 2009 6.9%, which corresponds to 5698 unemployed.Geology
Sedimentary rock
Sedimentary rock are types of rock that are formed by the deposition of material at the Earth's surface and within bodies of water. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause mineral and/or organic particles to settle and accumulate or minerals to precipitate from a solution....
of the Lahn and much older Devonian
Devonian
The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic Era spanning from the end of the Silurian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya , to the beginning of the Carboniferous Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya...
and Carboniferous
Carboniferous
The Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Devonian Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Permian Period, about 299.0 ± 0.8 Mya . The name is derived from the Latin word for coal, carbo. Carboniferous means "coal-bearing"...
rocks of the two main geological units of the Massif, the Lahnmulde and the so-called Giessen nappe
Giessen nappe
The Giessen nappe is a tectonic nappe in the southeastern part of the Rhenish Massif in western Germany. The nappe is an "alien" unit in the Rhenohercynian zone of the Hercynian orogeny, it was thrusted over the usual slightly metamorphosed Devonian and Carboniferous sedimentary rocks in this...
. The northwestern part of the urban area lies on the Lahntal silt
Silt
Silt is granular material of a size somewhere between sand and clay whose mineral origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment in a surface water body...
, sand
Sand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...
and gravel
Gravel
Gravel is composed of unconsolidated rock fragments that have a general particle size range and include size classes from granule- to boulder-sized fragments. Gravel can be sub-categorized into granule and cobble...
, which have only slightly hardened. They were deposited by the river Lahn, at a point where its valley (which is still up to one kilometre wide) to the west becomes increasingly narrow and deep. The main part of the city is built on in part intensively folded
Fold (geology)
The term fold is used in geology when one or a stack of originally flat and planar surfaces, such as sedimentary strata, are bent or curved as a result of permanent deformation. Synsedimentary folds are those due to slumping of sedimentary material before it is lithified. Folds in rocks vary in...
, faulted and slated
Foliation (geology)
Foliation is any penetrative planar fabric present in rocks. Foliation is common to rocks affected by regional metamorphic compression typical of orogenic belts. Rocks exhibiting foliation include the standard sequence formed by the prograde metamorphism of mudrocks; slate, phyllite, schist and...
layers of shales, sandstone, quartzite and limestone. They were deposited in the Devonian and Carboniferous eras in a sea characterised by island chains, volcanoes and atolls that were pushed together and covered by a layer of rock that had been transported from another location during the Variscan orogeny
Variscan orogeny
The Variscan orogeny is a geologic mountain-building event caused by Late Paleozoic continental collision between Euramerica and Gondwana to form the supercontinent of Pangaea.-Naming:...
period of mountain building. The marine sedimentary rocks which resulted from this tectonic action now give the town its character as they were often used for building material.
History
The town's founding date has up to now never been established or known. There were "Bandkeramiker"Linear Pottery culture
The Linear Pottery culture is a major archaeological horizon of the European Neolithic, flourishing ca. 5500–4500 BC.It is abbreviated as LBK , is also known as the Linear Band Ware, Linear Ware, Linear Ceramics or Incised Ware culture, and falls within the Danubian I culture of V...
settlements right on the western town limits, partly from 5,000 years BC.
In the proximity of Wetzlar there are also a few Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
remains, which were constructed during the reign of the emperor Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
. There was a military camp at Dorlar and some Roman roadwork. The most important finding however is an uncompleted city (Waldgirmes Forum
Waldgirmes Forum
The Roman Forum of Lahnau-Waldgirmes is a fortified Roman trading place, located at the edge of the modern village Waldgirmes, part of Lahnau on the Lahn, Hesse, Germany...
), which has been excavated since 1993. After their defeat in the battle of the Teutoburg Forest
Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest took place in 9 CE, when an alliance of Germanic tribes led by Arminius of the Cherusci ambushed and decisively destroyed three Roman legions, along with their auxiliaries, led by Publius Quinctilius Varus.Despite numerous successful campaigns and raids by the...
the Romans abandoned the area and withdrew to the Rhine border.
The name "Wetzlar" had come into being most likely by the 3rd century to the 8th century. The last syllable "―lar" suggests that the town was in existence by the 3rd century. The ending may be Celtic
Celtic languages
The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...
or Frankish
Old Frankish language
Old Frankish is an extinct West Germanic language, once spoken by the Franks. It is the parent language of the Franconian languages, of which Dutch and Afrikaans are the most known descendants...
(in the latter case, most likely referring to wooden defences around the town). The Conradine Gebhard
Gebhard, Duke of Lorraine
Gebhard of Lahngau , of the Conradine dynasty, son of Odo , count of Lahngau, and Judith, was himself count of Wetterau and Rheingau and then duke of Lotharingia ....
, Count in the Wetterau
Wetterau
The Wetterau is a fertile undulating tract, watered by the Wetter, a tributary of the Nidda River, in the western German state of Hesse, between the hilly province Oberhessen and the north-western Taunus mountains....
, and as of 904 Duke of Lorraine, had a Church of the Saviour consecrated in 897, which replaced earlier structures. In the early 10th century came the founding of the Marienstift (monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
).
Free Imperial City
At some unknown time, Wetzlar was granted market rights, and thereby, the right to levy market dues. Within a year, a market community came into being. The monastery's forerunners were surely part of the crystallization point at which believers, traders and craftsmen met, above all on holidays.The Hohenstaufen
Hohenstaufen
The House of Hohenstaufen was a dynasty of German kings in the High Middle Ages, lasting from 1138 to 1254. Three of these kings were also crowned Holy Roman Emperor. In 1194 the Hohenstaufens also became Kings of Sicily...
Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa
Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick I Barbarossa was a German Holy Roman Emperor. He was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March, crowned King of Italy in Pavia in 1155, and finally crowned Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV, on 18 June 1155, and two years later in 1157 the term...
created a Reichsvogtei (roughly "Imperial Bailiwick"), and in 1180 put Wetzlar's citizens on the same level as Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
's. Wetzlar became a Free Imperial City and kept this distinction until 1803. For the town's protection, and to secure the Wetterau as an Imperial Province, he expanded high above Wetzlar the Imperial Castle (Reichsburg), which had most likely already stood in one form or another before then. The origin of the name "Reichsburg Kalsmunt" is not quite clear. The following explanation cannot be ruled out: Kals- = Karls and munt ≈ vassal, that is, a liege of the Frankish court. Thus it would seem to be a case of a building work from Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
's time ("Charlemagne" is "Karl der Große" – "Charles the Great" (740s–814) – in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
). Imperial coinage was struck at Kalsmunt. The commercial road, which crossed the Lahn at Wetzlar, the town's iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
production, to which the Iron Market (forum ferri) still bears witness, the wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
weaving mill and tanning
Tanning
Tanning is the making of leather from the skins of animals which does not easily decompose. Traditionally, tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound from which the tanning process draws its name . Coloring may occur during tanning...
seemed a good basis on which to develop the town further.
In 1285 the "false emperor" Dietrich Holzschuh, called Tile Kolup
Tile Kolup
Tile Kolup , also known as Dietrich Holzschuh, was an impostor who in 1284 began to pretend to be emperor Frederick II. He took advantage of persistent rumors that the emperor, who had died in 1250, was not really dead and was about to return to put in order the matters of the empire...
, who claimed to be Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick II , was one of the most powerful Holy Roman Emperors of the Middle Ages and head of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, and even to Jerusalem, were enormous...
(who actually had already died, in Italy in 1250) came to Wetzlar. When the rightful king, Rudolph I
Rudolph I of Germany
Rudolph I was King of the Romans from 1273 until his death. He played a vital role in raising the Habsburg dynasty to a leading position among the Imperial feudal dynasties...
heard of this and came to Wetzlar, the city leaders seized Tile Kolup and handed him over. He was sentenced as a warlock
Warlock
The term warlock in origin means "traitor, oathbreaker".In early modern Scots, the word came to be used as the male equivalent of witch ....
, a heretic
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
and a blasphemer
Blasphemer
Blasphemy is the disrespectful use of the name of one or more gods.Blasphemer may also refer to:* "Blasphemer", the stage name of Rune Eriksen, a Norwegian guitarist formerly of the black metal group Mayhem....
to a fiery death
Execution by burning
Death by burning is death brought about by combustion. As a form of capital punishment, burning has a long history as a method in crimes such as treason, heresy, and witchcraft....
, which he suffered the next day in Wetzlar at the stake.
Until 1250, most of the town fortifications, whose remains can still be seen today, were complete. By the middle of the 14th century, it is reckoned, the town's population was 6,000, making it by the standards of the time a "city". About 1350, the high point of the town's development in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
was reached.
Decades-long feuds with the Counts of Solms, who were trying to make Wetzlar into a Solms-domain city, threatened the vital commercial road. The Emperor supported the town, albeit vainly. The city plunged into debt and in 1387 it fell under forced administration; however, it was incorporated into the Swabian League of Towns. The town's decline led by the end of the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
to a drop in population, to 1,500.
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
's highest court, the Reichskammergericht
Reichskammergericht
The Reichskammergericht or Imperial Chamber Court was one of two highest judicial institutions in the Holy Roman Empire, the other one being the Aulic Council in Vienna. It was founded in 1495 by the Imperial Diet in Worms...
(Imperial Chamber Court) was moved from Speyer
Speyer
Speyer is a city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located beside the river Rhine, Speyer is 25 km south of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim. Founded by the Romans, it is one of Germany's oldest cities...
to Wetzlar after Speyer
Speyer
Speyer is a city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located beside the river Rhine, Speyer is 25 km south of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim. Founded by the Romans, it is one of Germany's oldest cities...
had been devastated by the French in the war of the Palatinate succession. Besides Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
(residence of the Emperor) and Regensburg
Regensburg
Regensburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. To the east lies the Bavarian Forest. Regensburg is the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate...
(seat of the Imperial Diet) Wetzlar thus gained a central function within the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
and although it remained a tiny town it was regarded as one of its capitals. In the summer of 1772, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
was at the Reichskammergericht as a trainee. His novel The Sorrows of Young Werther
The Sorrows of Young Werther
The Sorrows of Young Werther is an epistolary and loosely autobiographical novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, first published in 1774; a revised edition of the novel was published in 1787...
is inspired by real events which Goethe experienced in Wetzlar. In 1803 Wetzlar came under the rule of Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg
Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg
Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg was Archbishop-Elector of Mainz, Arch-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Empire, Prince of Regensburg, primate of the Confederation of the Rhine and Grand-Duke of Frankfurt.-Biography:...
, the Archchancellor of the Holy Roman Empire and a close ally of Napoleon Bonaparte and thus lost its status as a free town. With the Empire's dissolution in 1806, the great court also met its end. It was replaced by a school of law founded by Karl von Dalberg. After the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
, the area passed to Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
in 1815, and in 1822 it became the seat of the newly formed district of Wetzlar, which later became an exclave of the Rhine Province
Rhine Province
The Rhine Province , also known as Rhenish Prussia or synonymous to the Rhineland , was the westernmost province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822-1946. It was created from the provinces of the Lower Rhine and Jülich-Cleves-Berg...
.
Wetzlar becomes an industrial town
Industrialization began once the Lahn was made into a navigable waterway. With the opening of two railway lines in 1862-1863 (the Lahntalbahn from Wetzlar to KoblenzKoblenz
Koblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...
and the Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
-Gießen Railway), which met in Wetzlar, the town found itself connected to raw material and outlet markets, becoming an industrial town.
In 1869, in the municipal area alone, 100 ore
Ore
An ore is a type of rock that contains minerals with important elements including metals. The ores are extracted through mining; these are then refined to extract the valuable element....
mines were in operation. Wetzlar's first blast furnace
Blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally iron.In a blast furnace, fuel and ore and flux are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace, while air is blown into the bottom of the chamber, so that the chemical reactions...
, built by the brothers Buderus, went into service in 1872. As well, world-famous optical and precision mechanics companies such as Leitz (Leica), Hensoldt (Zeiss), Pfeiffer, Philips
Philips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
, Loh, Seibert, Hollmann, Minox and many others set up shop in the town.
For more than one hundred years, the iron ore found in the Lahn-Dill area (haematite) was processed at the Sophienhütte ironworks
Ironworks
An ironworks or iron works is a building or site where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and/or steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e...
. As of 1887, iron ore mines were being shut down one by one, interrupted only by the First World War, because foreign ore from strip mines was being offered at lower prices on the world market. In 1926, mining came to an end altogether.
Wetzlar in the 20th century
As part of the progressing industrialization, the town outgrew its mediaeval town limits. In 1903 came the amalgamation of Niedergirmes with its extensive industrial works and the railway station neighbourhood. By the end of the First World War, the population had risen to over 15,000. Owing to increasing transportation problems, a ringroad was built to the west of the Old Town (Altstadt), taking the load off the old stone bridge across the Lahn by building a further bridge. In the Second World War, the town, being an industrial stonghold, also became the target of heavy bombing, which destroyed much of the railway station neighbourhood and Niedergirmes. The historic Old Town, however, was mostly spared the air raidsAirstrike
An air strike is an attack on a specific objective by military aircraft during an offensive mission. Air strikes are commonly delivered from aircraft such as fighters, bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters, and others...
.
After the Second World War ended in 1945, Wetzlar found itself in the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
occupation zone, and later, once new boundaries had been drawn, in the Federal State
States of Germany
Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...
of Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
. By the beginning of the 1950s, owing to the huge numbers of displaced people from lost territories and refugees flooding into the town, the population had doubled to 30,000.
On 1 January 1977, as part of Hesse's municipal reforms, Wetzlar was united with the neighbouring town of Gießen
Gießen
Gießen, also spelt Giessen is a town in the German federal state of Hesse, capital of both the district of Gießen and the administrative region of Gießen...
and fourteen outlying communities to form the city of Lahn
Lahn, Hesse
Lahn was city which was created on January 1, 1977 when the two cities of Gießen and Wetzlar were merged. It was named after the river Lahn to make the merger one of equals...
. This district-free city had about 156,000 inhabitants. The amalgamation was very unpopular, and after persistent protests – not least of all from Wetzlar – the city of Lahn was dissolved on 31 July 1979, and Wetzlar once again became an independent town. The municipal reforms, however, had been "worth the trouble" for Wetzlar inasmuch as the town gained eight new outlying communities in the deal, making both the town's area and population considerably greater than they had been. Moreover, Wetzlar has since this time been the seat of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis, which also came into being at the same time.
Town council
Elections to the town council were last held on 26 March 2006 for a five-year term. The SPD lost one seat, the Greens gained one. Voter participation fell from 45.9% in 2001 to 37.2%. Out of 38,918 eligible voters, 14,468 went to the polls. Hesse's next municipal elections will be held in March 2011.| Parties and voter communities | Share in % | Seats | |
| CDU | Christian Democratic Union Christian Democratic Union (Germany) The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum... |
36.0 | 21 |
| SPD | Social Democratic Party of Germany Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany... |
39.1 | 23 |
| Greens | Alliance '90/The Greens Alliance '90/The Greens Alliance '90/The Greens is a green political party in Germany, formed from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. Its leaders are Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir... |
8.0 | 5 |
| FDP | Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party (Germany) The Free Democratic Party , abbreviated to FDP, is a centre-right classical liberal political party in Germany. It is led by Philipp Rösler and currently serves as the junior coalition partner to the Union in the German federal government... |
6.8 | 4 |
| FWG | Freie Wählergemeinschaft | 10.1 | 6 |
| total | 100 | 59 | |
Note: FWG is a citizens' coalition.
The majority of seats, and thereby the power, is held by a CDU-FWG-FDP coalition which holds, as also before the elections, 31 of the 59 seats.
Coat of arms
Wetzlar's civic coat of armsCoat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
might heraldically be described thus: In gules a spreadeagle sable armed, langued and crowned Or, over its wing dexter a cross pattée argent.
The black Imperial eagle on a red background and with a golden crown stands for the town's former Imperial immediacy as a Free Imperial City (see History). The silver cross stands for the former Imperial City's right to mint coins. The arms are almost unchanged from those borne in the 12th century.
A new version of the coat of arms was to have been introduced in 2003, but it did not catch on. In the end, the "old" arms were kept.
Transport
Motorway : Wetzlar lies on the A45Bundesautobahn 45
is an autobahn in Germany, connecting Dortmund in the west with Aschaffenburg in the southwest. It is colloquially known by its byname Sauerlandlinie, which derives from the Sauerland, the landscape which said autobahn is running through between the cities of Hagen and Siegen. Many people think of...
(Sauerland
Sauerland
The Sauerland is a rural, hilly area spreading across most of the south-eastern part of North Rhine-Westphalia, in parts heavily forested and, apart from the major valleys, sparsely inhabited...
-line Dortmund
Dortmund
Dortmund is a city in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. Its population of 585,045 makes it the 7th largest city in Germany and the 34th largest in the European Union....
– Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg is a city in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not considered part of the district of Aschaffenburg, but is the administrative seat.Aschaffenburg is known as the Tor zum Spessart or "gate to the Spessart"...
) with the junctions Wetzlarer Kreuz
Wetzlarer Kreuz
The Wetzlarer Kreuz is an Autobahn interchange in the city of Wetzlar in Hesse, Germany where the highways A45 and A480 meet.This junction is a stack interchange, which is the only full built stack interchange in Germany....
[Wetzlar Cross] (to A480 to Wetzlar-North, Asslar and Wetzlar-Blasbach), Wetzlar-Ost [Wetzlar-East] (to B49 in direction city centre) and Wetzlar-Süd [Wetzlar-South] (into the southern quarters Münchholzhausen and Dutenhofen). The motorway A480 should actually lead from the Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
border over Trier
Trier
Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
through the Westerwald
Westerwald
The Westerwald is a low mountain range on the right bank of the River Rhine in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhine Massif...
up to the Hattenbacher Dreieck ([Hattenbach Triangle] to the A7). This distance was planned as A48. Because of high costs it was never completely realized. Now the B49 are to take up the traffic. Today the part of the A48 between Gießen and Wetzlar is called A480 and leads only from the departure Wetzlar-North/Asslar up to the Wetzlarer Cross and beyond that up to the present motorway end with the improvised exit after Wetzlar-Blasbach. Some kilometres to the northeast of Gießen the part removed so far continues and leads from Heuchelheim
Heuchelheim
Heuchelheim is a municipality in the district of Gießen, in Hesse, Germany. Since April 1, 1967 it includes the district Kinzenbach. The approximately 8,000 residents spread across two districts Heuchelheim and Kinzenbach .- History :Until 1967 the indepent villages of Heucheleim and Kinzenbach...
to the Reiskirchener Dreieck [Reiskirchen Triangle] at the A5
Bundesautobahn 5
is a 445 km long Autobahn in Germany. Its northern end is the Hattenbach triangle intersection is a 445 km (277 mi) long Autobahn in Germany. Its northern end is the Hattenbach triangle intersection is a 445 km (277 mi) long Autobahn in Germany. Its northern end is the...
.
Federal highway : The following federal highways lead through the city: B49 (Trier
Trier
Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
– Wetzlar – Alsfeld
Alsfeld
Alsfeld is a town in the center of Hesse, somewhere in Germany. Large towns nearby are Bad Hersfeld about 33 km to the east, Fulda 36 km to the southeast, Gießen 47 km to the west and Marburg an der Lahn about 36 km to the northwest...
) in direction east–west and B277 (Siegen-Dillenburg-Wetzlar) as north-south connection. The B277a is rather a bypass road
Bypass (road)
A bypass is a road or highway that avoids or "bypasses" a built-up area, town, or village, to let through traffic flow without interference from local traffic, to reduce congestion in the built-up area, and to improve road safety....
, it connects Asslar with Wetzlar-Dalheim. Between Wetzlar and Limburg (B49) the federal route is currently being expanded from one lane to two in each direction.
Railways : Wetzlar lies on the railroad lines Frankfurt am Main – Siegen
Siegen
Siegen is a city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia.It is located in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in the Arnsberg region...
– Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
and Gießen
Gießen
Gießen, also spelt Giessen is a town in the German federal state of Hesse, capital of both the district of Gießen and the administrative region of Gießen...
– Limburg
Limburg an der Lahn
Limburg an der Lahn is the district seat of Limburg-Weilburg in Hesse, Germany.-Location:Limburg lies in western Hesse between the Taunus and the Westerwald on the river Lahn....
– Koblenz
Koblenz
Koblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...
, which meet at Wetzlar Station and are operated by RegionalBahn
RegionalBahn
The Regionalbahn is a type of local passenger train in Germany.-Service:Regionalbahn trains usually call at all stations on a given line, with the exception of RB trains within S-Bahn networks, these may only call at selected stations...
and RegionalExpress
RegionalExpress
The term Regional-Express denotes a type of regional train in Germany and Austria .It is best compared to a semi-fast train, as it calls at fewer stations than Regionalbahn or S-Bahn trains, but stops more often than InterCity services...
-trains. Since 2009 every morning and evening an EuroCity
EuroCity
EuroCity, abbreviated EC, denotes an international train service within the European inter-city rail network. In contrast to trains with the "IC" label, "EC" trains are international trains that meet certain criteria. The EuroCity label replaces the older Trans Europ Express name for...
stops on its way to Klagenfurt
Klagenfurt
-Name:Carinthia's eminent linguists Primus Lessiak and Eberhard Kranzmayer assumed that the city's name, which literally translates as "ford of lament" or "ford of complaints", had something to do with the superstitious thought that fateful fairies or demons tend to live around treacherous waters...
or rather to Siegen. Beside the station Wetzlar, a further station exists in Dutenhofen. The earlier station in Wetzlar-Garbenheim was closed when this route to Wetzlar was shut down. The freight station has become smaller; since February 2007, Railion
Railion
DB Schenker Rail is a European railway cargo carrier. The company was formed from the freight operating section of the Deutsche Bahn DB Cargo with the addition of various European rail freight operating companies.In December 2007 Railion became part of the DB Schenker logistics group, itself a...
operates freight trains for central Hesse. Larger cities, which are directly reachable from Wetzlar are: Aachen
Aachen
Aachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...
, Cologne, Koblenz, Frankfurt am Main, Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Salzburg
Salzburg
-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...
, Siegen and Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
.
Public transport : The city has a well organised urban bus network with twelve lines, all connecting to the central bus station (ZOB
ZOB
ZOB can refer to:*Jewish Combat Organization*Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center*Berlin Zoologischer Garten railway station*Electronic Music Producer...
), in addition various lines handle the overland traffic into the surrounding countryside of Wetzlar. In the late evening hours the night bus line 007, the so-called DiscoBus, serves nearly all parts of the city. On all lines, the RMV
Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund
The Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund is an organised transport network in the German state of Hesse, centred around the city of Frankfurt am Main. Its head office is located in Hofheim im Taunus...
pricing applies. Additionally the CityBus links the Old Town for 50c, weekdays from 10:00 to 19:00 and on workdays to 15:00 with the station and the shopping centre FORUM Wetzlar every 20 minutes.
Airtraffic : The distance to Frankfurt Airport
Frankfurt Airport
Frankfurt Airport may refer to:Airports of Frankfurt, Germany:*Frankfurt Airport , the largest airport in Germany*Frankfurt Egelsbach Airport, a general aviation airport*Frankfurt-Hahn Airport , a converted U.S...
is about 70 km, to the regional airport Siegen approx. 40 km.
Retailing
According to the figures of the Society for Consumer ResearchGfK
The GfK Group, established in 1934 as Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung is Germany's largest market research institute, and the fourth largest market research organisation in the world, after Nielsen Company, Kantar Group, and IMS Health...
is Wetzlar one of the most attractive commercial locations in Germany. The city has a high centrality coefficient and a retail turnover of around EUR 10,000 per inhabitant. In Germany it takes third place among all cities with over 50,000 inhabitants.
Wetzlar has two large shopping centres, of those the FORUM Wetzlar is the largest in central Hesse (Mittelhessen). It has around 110 shops and accommodates a large multi-storey car park of 1700 places. Retail trade is located mainly in the areas Bahnhofsstraße, Karl-Kellner-Ring and the historic old town. In the Bahnhofstraße, the Karl-Kellner-Ring and in the two shopping centres where almost all goods are available.
Enterprises
The city is home to some internationally active and well known enterprises. The Buderus company was created in the year 1731 and is one of the oldest still existing (large) enterprises. As BBT Thermotechnik, now part of the BoschRobert Bosch GmbH
Robert Bosch GmbH is a multinational engineering and electronics company headquartered in Gerlingen, near Stuttgart, Germany. It is the world's largest supplier of automotive components...
group, Buderus was for many decades one of the largest employers in the central Hessian area with more than 10,000 persons employed in Wetzlar alone (worldwide over 16,000), working in the areas casting (with cement), high-grade steel and heating technologies. Economic changes, repeated shifts of the stock majority as well as close-downs and sales of various divisions have strongly changed the company in the meantime. However, it ranks among the largest enterprises in Hesse. Wetzlar is apart from Jena
Jena
Jena is a university city in central Germany on the river Saale. It has a population of approx. 103,000 and is the second largest city in the federal state of Thuringia, after Erfurt.-History:Jena was first mentioned in an 1182 document...
and Oberkochen
Oberkochen
Oberkochen is a town in the Ostalbkreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.-Economy:After WWII the allied troops moved parts of the Carl Zeiss Company in Jena to Oberkochen. Today the headquarter of the Carl Zeiss AG is located in Oberkochen...
a German centre for optics as well as the most important German location for the precision engineering industry. The manufactured products have gained worldwide reputation. One of the most important companies in the area of microscopy is Leica Microsystems
Leica Microsystems
Leica Microsystems GmbH is a leading global manufacturer of optical microscopes, equipment for the preparation of microscopic specimens and related products. There are ten plants in eight countries with distribution partners in over 100 countries...
(formerly known as Ernst Leitz), which in its peak times employed over 7000 people in the city. Small format (35 mm) photography was invented in Wetzlar, and Leica cameras are well known for their excellent quality. In addition there are cameras of the companies Leidolf
Leidolf
Leidolf was a manufacturer of optical equipment situated in Wetzlar, Germany. It was founded by Rudolf Leidolf in 1921, initially producing lenses for microscopes. In 1948 camera production was started and in 1962 the factory ceased operations...
and Minox
Minox
The Minox is a subminiature camera conceived in 1922 and invented in 1936 by German-Latvian Walter Zapp, which Latvian factory VEF manufactured from 1937 to 1943. After World War II, the camera was redesigned and production resumed in Germany in 1948. Originally envisioned as a luxury item, it...
, binoculars and telescopes made by the company Hensoldt AG (now Carl Zeiss
Carl Zeiss
Carl Zeiss was a German maker of optical instruments commonly known for the company he founded, Carl Zeiss Jena . Zeiss made contributions to lens manufacturing that have aided the modern production of lenses...
), part of the Zeiss group (over 2,000 people employed in peak times). Other well-known firms are Philips
Philips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
(with about 1,200 employed at times) or Siemens AG
Siemens AG
Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich, Germany. It is the largest Europe-based electronics and electrical engineering company....
and Siemens VDO
Siemens VDO
VDO , is a manufacturer of information and cockpit systems, navigation, telematics, communication and audio systems, and control and fuel systems....
or the Sancura BKK, a supraregional health insurance company, which is fusioned with the Taunus BKK. The Business park
Business park
A business park or office park is an area of land in which many office buildings are grouped together. All of the work that goes on is commercial, not industrial or residential....
Spilburg, former barracks, became home to a number of innovative enterprises, particularly in the area of optics/precision mechanics, information technology and services. Additionally, areas in the Westend as well as the Hörnsheimer Eck and the Dillfeld are available for new businesses to set up.
Higher education
The Technische Hochschule MittelhessenUniversity of Applied Sciences Giessen-Friedberg
The Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen University of Applied Sciences is a German college for technical studies with campuses in Friedberg, Giessen, and Wetzlar...
is one of the largest universities of applied sciences in Germany. The campus in Wetzlar is located in a redeveloped former military barracks area.
International relations
Wetzlar is twinnedTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with: Siena
Siena
Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nation's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Colchester
Colchester
Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Avignon
Avignon
Avignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Berlin-Neukölln
Neukölln
Neukölln is the eighth borough of Berlin, located in the southeastern part of the city and was part of the former American sector under the Four-Power occupation of the city...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Písek
Písek
Písek is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has a population of 29 909 .-About:Písek is usually called "The Athens of the South", although Athens is much more southerly, because it has many high schools and schools of higher education, e.g. the Film School in Písek...
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
Ilmenau
Ilmenau
Ilmenau is a town located in the district of Ilm-Kreis, Thuringia, Germany.Ilmenau is situated in the valley of the Ilm river, at an altitude of 431 metres above sea level, and is the biggest town in Ilm-Kreis district, with 6,200 students studying at the Technische Universität Ilmenau. The...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Schladming
Schladming
Schladming is a small mining town in the Austrian state of Styria, that is now very popular with tourists. It has become a large ski resort and has held various skiing competitions recently. The shopping area has lots of cafes, restaurant and a variety of shops and caters well for tourists.As of...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
Sponsorships to
Dori, Burkina Faso
Dori, Burkina Faso
Dori is a town in northeastern Burkina Faso. It is located at around . It is the capital of Sahel Region and has a population of 17 675. The main ethnic group is the Fula .- Mines :...
8th District of Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
Partnerships with
Windhoek
Windhoek
Windhoek is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level. The 2001 census determined Windhoek's population was 233,529...
, Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
Point Pedro
Point Pedro
Point Pedro is the northernmost town of the island of Sri Lanka. The agriculturally active area around Point Pedro with fertile calcic red latosols is known for its cotton production. The eastern coast of Point Pedro is a 3-mile-broad beach with huge sand dunes up to 100 feet height, extending...
, City in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
Aparecida
Aparecida
Aparecida is a Brazilian city and municipality in the state of São Paulo. It is located in the fertile valley of the River Paraíba do Sul on the southern bank. The population in 2004 was 35,754 and the area of the municipality is 121.232 km²...
in São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
Historic Old Town
Timber framing
Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
houses and stone buildings from Romanesque (Wetzlar Cathedral) to Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
to Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
and Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
is to a great extent as it was in the late 18th century, preserved and extensively restored. Thus the great squares of Buttermarkt/Domplatz ("Butter Market/Cathedral Square"), Fischmarkt ("Fish Market"), Eisenmarkt ("Iron Market"), Kornmarkt ("Grain Market"), and the former Franziskanerhof ("Franciscan Yard"), now called Schillerplatz. From the roughly 50 noteworthy buildings, a few are listed here:
- A straight-walled half-timbered house from 1356
- The "Old Coin" (Alte Münze) at the Iron Market
- The "Roman Emperor" (Römische Kaiser) from the 15th century, a former theatre and ballroom
- The former Teutonic Knights' Court (Deutschordenshof), today a town museum
- The Lottehaus, Charlotte Buff's house
- The Jerusalemhaus in which Karl Wilhelm Jerusalem shot himself, thus attaining sad fame as WertherThe Sorrows of Young WertherThe Sorrows of Young Werther is an epistolary and loosely autobiographical novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, first published in 1774; a revised edition of the novel was published in 1787...
- The princely Palais Papius in which is nowadays found the collection of historical furniture assembled by Dr Irmgard Freiin von Lemmers-Danforth
Also in the old outlying towns of Langgasse and Neustadt ("New Town"), connected to the Old Town by the Old Lahn Bridge (Alte Lahnbrücke), a number of historic buildings are preserved and are worth seeing. The New Town, however, has lost its mediaeval feel owing to its 20th-century four-lane roads.
The stone Alte Lahnbrücke was first mentioned in 1288. A building meant to serve as the town hall, built in the mid 14th century, was used by the Reichskammergericht as their seat and offices from 1689 to 1806, after many remodellings. Considerable remains of the town's 13th- and 14th-century fortifications are still preserved, for instance a fortress tower known as the Schneiderturm ("Tailor's Tower") or Säuturm ("Sow's Tower"), the Kalsmuntpforte ("Kalsmunt Gate" – see History) which was the town gate for the earlier suburb of Silhofen, as well as large sections of the town wall.
Wetzlar Cathedral
The Wetzlarer Dom (Wetzlar Cathedral) is one of Wetzlar's landmark buildings. Building work began on the cathedral in 1230 and is still not finished. It is the successor to a former "Church of the Saviour" consecrated in 897. The monastery and parish church was called Cathedral as of the late 17th century. This designation was acquired during the time that the Reichskammergericht was active in Wetzlar (1693–1806), when the Elector-Archbishop of Trier was Monastery Provost, making the church a "Bishop's Church".Culture
The Phantastische Bibliothek WetzlarPhantastische Bibliothek Wetzlar
The Phantastische Bibliothek Wetzlar was founded in 1989 and has become one of the largest public libraries specialised in Fantasy literature worldwide, it is the largest in Europe...
(Fantastic Library of Wetzlar) is one of the largest public libraries specialising in fantastic literature worldwide, it is the largest in Europe. It is generally a reference library, open for the public and scientists.
Arena Wetzlar
Arena Wetzlar
Rittal Arena Wetzlar is an indoor sporting arena located in Wetzlar, Germany. The capacity of the arena is 5,000 people and it was opened in 2005. It is the home to the Handball Bundesliga club HSG Wetzlar...
is a multi-functional arena and is primarily used for pop concerts, shows and team handball and is the home arena of HSG Wetzlar
HSG Wetzlar
HSG Wetzlar is a professional team handball club from Wetzlar, Germany. Currently, HSG Wetzlar competes in the German First League of Handball and the German Handball Cup.-Accomplishments:*National Cup of Germany Final: 2**1997, 2001...
(Handball Bundesliga).
Every summer, opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
s, music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
and drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
are performed in the open air at the Freilichtbühne during the month-long Wetzlar Festival ("Wetzlarer Festspiele
Wetzlarer Festspiele
The Wetzlarer Festspiele is since 1953 annually a theatre festival, which taking place in the summer in the Hessian city Wetzlar. The festivals enjoy far an acknowledgment, going beyond Hesse....
").